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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768638">We Want Answers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticmistake/pseuds/galacticmistake'>galacticmistake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>South Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adorable Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Aged-Up Character(s), Bitterness, Butters is a Good Friend, Butters is a sweetheart, Butters is the group therapist, Damn kid only really eats pop-tarts, Duct Tape, Gen, Kenny may or may not be malnourished, Partial Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2020, go figure, waking up in restraints</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:33:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>907</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768638</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticmistake/pseuds/galacticmistake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The goth kinds are strangely bitter over why Stan is no longer part of their group, and they go to desperate measures to find answers.</p><p>(Aged up for a high school setting. Firkle is 12, Kenny, Butters, Pete, and Henrietta are 16; and Michael is 17)</p><p>(Day 1 of Whumptober 2020: Waking Up In Restraints)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We Want Answers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TW: Bound wrists, duct tape over mouth, violence, possible homophobic taunting</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Alright kiddos! I’m heading out!” Mrs. Biggle said sweetly as she opened the door. “There’s snacks for everyone on the counter, so help yourselves if you get hungry, kay?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Whatever, mom…” Henrietta sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The bedroom door shut, and Henrietta jumped to the window, waiting for her mom’s car to leave the driveway. Once she was sure it was gone, she motioned for the other 3 goths to walk in front of Henrietta’s closet. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Pete. Bring him out.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Pete obliged, and went deeper into her closet. He came back out not too long later, holding someone in a bright orange parka bound with duct tape.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Here he is. Geez, you think he’d be heavier. Even with the parka.” Mike whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shut up and drop him.” Henrietta ordered.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Pete dropped the orange clad boy to the floor and rolled him onto his back. He quickly pulled down the hood, revealing matted, dusty blond hair and a pale, bruise stricken face. Covering his face was a singular piece of duct tape, his wrists bound in the same material.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You know, that shit can be dangerous. Have you heard of people who have had it on their face for long periods of time?” Firkle, the youngest of the bunch, piped up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shut up.” Pete taunted, kneeling next to the boy in the parka.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He might have a point, though. Plus, he needs to wake up soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Firkle nudged his way past Pete and kneeled down to the unconscious boy. Then, with no warning, he yanked the piece of tape away from his face.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The blond boy came to, screaming in pain.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Naturally, to quell this, Michael delivered a swift punch to the blond’s eye, which knocked him back, but not out.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What the hell, man?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Look, Kenny.” Henrietta said aggressively. “We needed to ask you a question, but not too obviously.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What do you know about Raven?” Pete asked, moving to sit on the blond’s chest.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...who?” Kenny asked, confused.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Black hair, Edgar Allen Poe shirt.” Firkle replied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...Stan? Of course I know him, why?” Kenny replied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He just… left the group. Yeah, he’ll still talk to us, but it’s not like what it was…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Damn, were you romantically involved or something? Sounds intense.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...no? But he left without telling us ANYTHING.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So you kidnapped me, stuffed me in a closet, and bound me with DUCT TAPE?” Kenny yelled in frustration.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Essentially, yes.” Henrietta affirmed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Look… I don’t know anything about any of this. But give me 72 hours, and you may have at least an inkling of an answer. But in order to do that, I’m gonna need to be freed from this duct tape.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah, that’s only fair.” Henrietta agreed. “Firkle, can you get me the scissors?”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  
  <span>The next morning came rather quickly, and Kenny’s wrists still burned from the duct tape. Despite this, he needed to get an answer to the whole goth debacle somehow. Luckily, there was someone he could always count on.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Butters. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>As he got on the bus, he found the seat next to his bestie open, so he just slid in and tried to act chill.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Mornin’ Ken! You had a rough night, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Goddamnit.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah, I guess… hehe. Listen, I have a weird question.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s up Ken?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So, last night, the goths were asking why Stan left their group.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Still mad at that, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Not mad… probably just confused. Would you happen to know anything about that?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh yeah!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Kenny’s eyes lit up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Cool!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Mhm. So, a few years ago, Stan and I had a chat. Like, a heart-to-heart chat, after Wendy broke up with him, again. He came to me wanting advice on how to make it stop hurting so much.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What did you tell him?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I told him that it was good that he was feeling the emotions he was feeling. But I also told him not to dwell on it too much. Like, don’t make your suffering your entire personality. And what was happening with the goths was just that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I can totally understand that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So he left. He thanked me not too long after.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That clears things up a lot. Now, they want me to explain this, but I wouldn’t be able to word it the way you just did. So… I’ll give you $10 to tell them?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’d do it for free if it meant helping my best buddy get out of a rough situation.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Kenny shoved the $10 bill in Butters’ jacket pocket.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Take the fucking money, Leo. You deserve it.” </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  
  <span>All in all, the goths seemed calmer throughout the day. Butters had explained everything to them, and they took it really well. At one point, Firkle even mentioned how the whole brooding thing seemed toxic in the first place.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>However, at around lunch, Kenny got a bad feeling.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He went into the bathroom in an attempt to try and calm down. As he was washing his hands, Michael appeared right behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You were supposed to tell us. Not your little boyfriend.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m single, Mike. Leave me alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That was the whole deal. That YOU were supposed to tell us why.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Look, if you were so pressed about it, why not ask Stan himself?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Outside of the bathroom, Butters heard the familiar sounds of schoolyard scuffling, so he waited outside anxiously. Kenny emerged near the end of lunch with a myriad of newly forming bruises, but at least he knew he had done the right thing.</span>
</p>
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